Typically, bonded abrasive articles are prepared by blending abrasive grains with a bond and optional additives and shaping the resulting mixture, using, for instance, a suitable mold. The mixture can be shaped to form a green body which is thermally processed, for example, by curing, sintering and so forth, to produce an article in which the abrasive grains are held in a three dimensional bond matrix. Among bonded abrasive tools, abrasive (or grinding) wheels often are prepared utilizing an organic, e.g., a resin, bond. Such wheels can be reinforced using, for example, discs cut out of nylon, carbon, glass or cotton cloth, or can be un- or non-reinforced.
In some cases, a workpiece needs to be processed using a relatively stiff wheel. Other operations, however, are best conducted with wheels that are less stiff or more pliable, and one existing technique used to produce such wheels imparts a pattern on the working or the non-working face of the wheel. The pattern typically includes channels and protrusions, shaped, for instance in crisscross, annular or in another suitable arrangement.
A need continues to exist, however, for wheels that have reduced stiffness and for methods for making and using such wheels.